April 2nd, 2024: OpenAI, the corporate behind the favored ChatGPT, has introduced Voice Engine, a brand new text-to-speech AI mannequin that may create artificial voices based mostly on a 15-second phase of recorded audio.
The know-how, developed in late 2022, has the potential to offer quite a few advantages, resembling studying help, world attain for creators, and customized speech choices for non-verbal people.
Nonetheless, regardless of the potential benefits, OpenAI has determined to preview the know-how however not extensively launch it at the moment on account of considerations about potential misuse.
The corporate initially deliberate to launch a pilot program for builders to enroll in the Voice Engine API earlier this month however scaled again its ambitions after contemplating the moral implications.
In an announcement, OpenAI stated, “We’re selecting to preview however not extensively launch this know-how at the moment. We hope this preview of Voice Engine each underscores its potential and in addition motivates the necessity to bolster societal resilience towards the challenges introduced by ever extra convincing generative fashions.”
The corporate has been testing the know-how with choose associate firms since final 12 months, requiring them to comply with phrases of use that prohibit impersonation with out consent and mandate knowledgeable consent from people whose voices are being cloned.
OpenAI has additionally applied a watermark in each voice pattern to help in tracing the origin of any voice generated by its Voice Engine mannequin.
To handle the potential dangers related to voice-cloning know-how, OpenAI has supplied three suggestions for society to adapt: phasing out voice-based authentication for financial institution accounts, educating the general public about the potential of misleading AI content material, and accelerating the event of strategies to trace the origin of audio content material.
The corporate emphasizes the necessity for a cautious and knowledgeable strategy to the broader launch of artificial voice know-how.
“We hope to start out a dialogue on the accountable deployment of artificial voices and the way society can adapt to those new capabilities,” OpenAI said. “Primarily based on these conversations and the outcomes of those small scale assessments, we’ll make a extra knowledgeable choice about whether or not and the right way to deploy this know-how at scale.”
As the event of voice-cloning know-how continues to advance, it’s essential for firms like OpenAI to contemplate the potential dangers and moral implications whereas working to harness the advantages for society.
